mitt romney isn't succeeding as a solo act so the romney campaign is putting mitt romney and paul ryan on the campaign trail together, sort of a karaoke duet, i guess. what does it tell you the big draw on the republican ticket is the number two guy? let me finish tonight with how the democratic party has a huge opportunity to grow after this election. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> now that there's no chance of a republican replacing todd akin in the missouri senate race, claire mccaskill is hitting akin hard for his we'll be right back. >>> there's an attempt on the right wing to delegitimatize president obama, an attempt to declare our president not really an american. >> i would like to have him show his birth certificate. >> i wish this president would learn how to how to be an american. >> no one's asked for my birth certificate. >> this talk and false welfare ads is what president obama faces in the next 41 days. alex wagner host of "now" on msnbc and eugene robinson is a pulitzer prize winning columnist for "the washington post." thanks for joining us tonight.